For
male ants looking for love without a fight, smelling like a queen is just
the ticket. They smell like females to avoid attacks by other more aggressive
males, and, despite their feminine aura, still mate successfully with
virgin queens in the nest.

This is a rare example of 'chemical mimicry' within a speciesmales
take on the odor of females in order to protect themselves without ruining
their chances to mate. Scientists made the discovery in Cardiocondyla
obscurior, a tropical ant whose males come in two varieties: aggressive
wingless and docile winged.

The researchers found that young, docile males produce a chemical odor
similar to virgin queens. The chemicals, called hydrocarbons, stick to
the ants' cuticles, allowing the insects to recognize each other's smell.

The genes that may contribute to chemical mimicry are not known, says
Sylvia Cremer, of the University of Regensburg in Germany, who led the
study. Docile males must have had enormous selective pressure to survive
their first few days of life, she adds.

Female mimicry has been seen in other creatures such as male rove beetles
and garter snakes. But in these cases, "males pay for avoiding competition
with 'high-quality' males by suffering low mating success with females,"
the researchers write in Nature.

For the docile Cardiocondyla males, female mimicry is a win-win
situation. They avoid fights and copulate with females despite their ladylike
scent.

Smelling like a female doesn't come without its annoyances, however.
The aggressive males, confused by the scent, try to copulate with docile
males. In fact, this was the first clue for the researchers that there
was some sort of chemical deception going on in the nest.

"The nests are very dark, and the [aggressive] males don't have
very large eyes. Here, chemical communication is the main attraction,"
says Cremer.

The researchers discovered that the docile males lose their ladylike
scent as they age. Older males that emerged from the nest have their own
distinct smell.

Cremer plans to study invasive ant species in Europe and will investigate
how smell affects aggression between colonies.